Insurance KTAC Insurance: who's read the fine print?

[HillStreet]

Two years ago I got a phone call from a KTAC rep asking if I wanted to renew my coverage. I said no, because I had just paid off the machine, and it stays on my property. She started telling me all the things it covered, (such as a branch pushing against the filter and spilling oil) and I said “well, I have a claim right now”, and she said to pursue it.

I submitted the claim, KTAC sent it to the dealership, the dealership picked up my tractor to verify the damage (the dealership is the claims authority), the dealership repaired the tractor ($2300) and it is as good as new. I will be a KTAC customer, for about $250 a year, for as long as I have a tractor. There is NO COMPASRISON with homeowners insurance, it is a completely different product.

 

[RickB]

R

Most of this has to do with the dealer. The dealer writes up the claim, so they choose what to include and not include. If your engine blows up and you installed wheel spacers on the machine...why would the dealer include the wheel spacers in the discussion?

If they start denying enough claims and word gets out KTAC is no longer the best out there, we will stop buying it.

Exactly.

 

[falfrenzy]

Two years ago I got a phone call from a KTAC rep asking if I wanted to renew my coverage. I said no, because I had just paid off the machine, and it stays on my property. She started telling me all the things it covered, (such as a branch pushing against the filter and spilling oil) and I said “well, I have a claim right now”, and she said to pursue it.

I submitted the claim, KTAC sent it to the dealership, the dealership picked up my tractor to verify the damage (the dealership is the claims authority), the dealership repaired the tractor ($2300) and it is as good as new. I will be a KTAC customer, for about $250 a year, for as long as I have a tractor. There is NO COMPASRISON with homeowners insurance, it is a completely different product.

So what was the nature of your damage/claim?

 

[crazyal]

Most people who get KTAC do so because they got a loan through Kubota on a new tractor. KTAC seams to be good coverage but it's not cheap. The quote I got was for about $300/ a year (I could be off). But I had my first (self inflicted) fail. It cost me a little under $900 to repair. I've had my tractor now for almost 9 years so KTAC wouldn't of paid for $650 (it would have been more because a dealer would of done the work and charged labor) of what it cost me, or a little more than 2 years worth of payments. Most people own their tractors for decades with no issues. The premiums add up. On the other hand there's that one unlucky person who has a major system failure or a tree falling and breaking his tractor into multiple parts. For them it pays off very well. As for the terms, I don't see it as nothing too unusual.

 

[Code54]

They have to have that language in the policy because someone somewhere will take the cylinder off a D9 dozer and try to shoe horn it to there BX loader and destroy it then file a claim. It is rare you ever hear of anyone complaining about KTAC. Mostly hear people saying how pleased they have been when they had to file a claim.

 

[JK22]

Most people own their tractors for decades with no issues. The premiums add up. On the other hand there's that one unlucky person who has a major system failure or a tree falling and breaking his tractor into multiple parts. For them it pays off very well.

You basically just described how insurance works... If this wasn’t the case, insurance companies would be out of business.

 

[Tractor Seabee]

They took care of a $8.5K claim on my BX. No sweat, smooth transaction. If all you do is mow and light ground work on the flat is is probably not a good investment.

Ron

 

[4570Man]

Most people who get KTAC do so because they got a loan through Kubota on a new tractor. KTAC seams to be good coverage but it's not cheap. The quote I got was for about $300/ a year (I could be off). But I had my first (self inflicted) fail. It cost me a little under $900 to repair. I've had my tractor now for almost 9 years so KTAC wouldn't of paid for $650 (it would have been more because a dealer would of done the work and charged labor) of what it cost me, or a little more than 2 years worth of payments. Most people own their tractors for decades with no issues. The premiums add up. On the other hand there's that one unlucky person who has a major system failure or a tree falling and breaking his tractor into multiple parts. For them it pays off very well. As for the terms, I don't see it as nothing too unusual.

My homeowners insurance covers a machine as long as I own it and it’s parked on the property when damage occurs and it pretty much only covers theft or fire. I ended up paying $15 per thousand of value for a stand alone policy because the only on the property deal wasn’t going to cut it. That probably makes Ktac a better deal. I should probably check into it next year and see if they’ll insure a JD. My math came to the insurance policy equaling about 60 years of not getting stolen. That math was failing to account for lowering the paid amount because the value is less over the 60 years. My machine often sleeps on the job site so I didn’t figure 60 years of not getting stolen was in my favor.

 

[HillStreet]

So what was the nature of your damage/claim?

Falfrenzy: The B2650 tractor had just 300 hours on it. I was using it to rework an apple orchard that had been idle for 15 years. I used two saws to prune (radically prune) the trees, and used the bucket to move the tops away from the trees and pile up to burn.

I was very careful but nonetheless did damage by small branches getting under the tractor and breaking stuff. I damaged the hood, front grille, front metal bumper, radiator shroud. A lot of this stuff is plastic and it cracked, the metal got dinged. It worked fine, and I was going to make the repairs myself but the phone call from KTAC was just a coincidence.

Just so you know, the tractor is in pristine condition and runs like it is new. I got focused on the tasks and thought extra care would be good enough. It wasn’t. I should have gotten a grapple but it was a one time job. It is a working tractor, but I wont treat it like that again.

 

[vvanders]

My homeowners insurance covers a machine as long as I own it and it痴 parked on the property when damage occurs and it pretty much only covers theft or fire. I ended up paying $15 per thousand of value for a stand alone policy because the only on the property deal wasn稚 going to cut it. That probably makes Ktac a better deal. I should probably check into it next year and see if they値l insure a JD. My math came to the insurance policy equaling about 60 years of not getting stolen. That math was failing to account for lowering the paid amount because the value is less over the 60 years. My machine often sleeps on the job site so I didn稚 figure 60 years of not getting stolen was in my favor.

Be careful with homeowners insurance. I've heard a few stories of people making more than one small($1-2k) claim and getting dropped. Since most of the companies share information the one drop turns into not being able to get coverage which can get you into some serious problems if you have a mortgage.